Atlanta Hawks

A No. 8 seed beating a No. 1 seed-that is exactly what basketball fans have witnessed three times so far this postseason. The Indiana Pacers are currently down two games to one to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs.

Atlanta’s playoff success is important for a few reasons. First off, it shows that the best record does not necessarily reflect the best team. Second, it shows how quickly a team can collapse, especially when its 7-foot-2 center is completely absent from his own body and the team’s star scorers are not performing well either. Third and probably most importantly to Pistons fans, it shows what could potentially have been theirs: a first round playoff series win.

By the end of the first quarter of Friday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, the Detroit Pistons were down by 18 points. The game did not get better for the Motor City team. They ended up losing their eighth-straight game on the road.

Eight. That is the amount of road games Detroit has lost in a row. Coincidentally, that is also the number of games Detroit has lost in the last 10 games.

The Pistons finally returned home from their grueling West Coast road trip to face Carmelo Anthony and the struggling New York Knicks. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope found himself in the starting lineup due to the absence of Will Bynum and Chauncey Billups, and looked to make the most out of the opportunity. With the depth of this roster, KCP has often found himself to be the odd man out, lucky to play more than five minutes. Read More…